We purchased Addiction in 2000. At that time, she was 19 years young (1981, she was built in Long Beach, Ca) and had 3 previous owners. She was in pretty good shape but there were issues on the horizon. The folks we bought her from seemed to have let her sit for long periods. Once we started taking her out for long day sails on the winds of the San Francisco Bay, things started to break and fail. It seemed every time we went out, some thing happened that would need repair or replacement. First it was the water pump to say "no mas". Then the batteries, and eventually the rudder needed a major overhaul. The big projects (meaning expensive) have been the "butt cut" on the mast (a corroding base needed 4' taken off to be replaced by a hard material), a new dodger, roller furling, and finally a new engine (electric now). It's been a long process and things continue to break, just on a less frequent basis. If you add it up, I guesstimate we have spent an average of $9000 per year over the last 15 years for the care and feeding of our 30 foot sailboat. That's $135k! And this is a very modest sailboat. The good news is, we have 6 partners to share the expenses. We have old sails and we do much of the repairs ourselves (including taking out the old engine and installing our electric power plant). It's been an amazing journey and we have had the time of our lives with this wonderful vessel. The bottom line is: I can not imagine my life without this boat! I look so forward to my days on the water and the good times and incredible sailing grounds of this unbelievable body of water we live on. The combination of wind, mountains, bridges, fog, cityscape, and natural beauty are unmatced anywhere on our planet!
I plan to make a video of some of the major repairs and will post it here on Monday.
Addiction on the 2012 Delta Doo Dah Rally
Sidenote: This picture almost ended up on the cover of Lat38. We were trumped by a little race pic taken on the bay called...America's Cup!
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